Door control device

ABSTRACT

939,131. Door control devices. REPUBLIC INDUSTRIES Inc. Sept. 7, 1962 [Sept. 11, 1961], No. 34318/62. Class 65 (1). A floor-mounted door check for a swing door 14 comprises a housing 18 with a spindle 16 supporting and controlling the door, an extruded aluminium threshold strip 20 and 22 with an aperture for the spindle, the housing being contained in and having a clearance from a recess 26 in the concrete floor 10. The housing 18 is narrower than the strip section 20 to which it is screwed, and the weight of the door and door check are therefore carried directly through the strip, to the floor to which it is bolted.

1964 A. T. MEYER 3,142,872

DOOR CONTROL DEVICE Filed Sept. 11, 1961 Ill 'Yxmmimmxmxxwwmwwxmma mmvm 8%, J 272 United States Patent 3,142,872 DOOR CONTROL DEVICE Allen T. Meyer, Arlington Heights, Ill., assignor to Repuhiic Industries, Inc, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,287 1 Claim. (Cl. 20-64) The present invention relates to door control devices, commonly called door checks, and more particularly to devices of this character which are floor mounted.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel floor mounted door control device which may be supplied and installed at lower cost than is customary.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a novel floor mounted door control installation which needs less parts and which takes less time, effort and skill on the job than is the conventional requirement.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the lower portion of a door, threshold, and door control device, with a portion of the floor in front of the door shown in vertical section;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion of the door threshold and may be considered as taken in the direction of the arrows substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view which may be taken in the direction of the arrows substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

One common type of door control installation consists of a floor mountedpivot upon which the door rests and swings, the spring return and checking mechanism being connected directly to the pivot. Top pivots are also used for keeping the door in alignment, but usually all or at least the major portion of the door weight is carried by the bottom pivot.

The bottom pivot projects upwardly from a housing which provides the pivot bearings and within which the spring door closing and the hydraulic checking mechanisms are located.

Installation of such door control mechanisms ordinarily proceeds as follows.

A rectangular metal box, larger than the housing for the door control, is provided. This box, commonly called a cement case, has an open top and is set into the concrete floor at the time the floor is poured. It is carefully leveled and positioned within the doorway and becomes a permanent part of the floor when the concrete hardens.

Subsequently the door control mechanism is set into the cement case, is shifted about to the precisely proper location, is then leveled, and finally clamped to the cement case by any one of several expedients. It thus becomes immovable with respect to the cement case and floor.

The control mechanism and cement case are then covered by a threshold strip, usually formed of heavy extruded aluminum, having a hole to permit passage of the spindle. The threshold strip is then secured to the concrete floor in any suitable fashion, such as by expansion bolts, for instance.

The door, having a door closer arm in the bottom edge thereof, is then set upon the bottom pivot such that a socket in the arm fits the end of the spindle. The top pivot is then connected to complete the installation excepting for possible minor adjustment of the door relatapers to floor level at each side.

- Patented Aug. 4,, 1964 tive to the arm. The connection between the arm and the spindle is such as to lock the arm to the spindle so that they rotate together as the door swings.

Note that the procedure outlined transfers the load from the door to the door control mechanism, from the door control mechanism to the cement case, and finally from the cement case to the floor.

To guard against the possibility of the cement case subsequently settling or becoming loose, and to insure sufficient strength, the cement case is usually formed as a sand casting with considerable draft, so that it is larger at the top than at the bottom. Such castings also have the advantage that they bond well to the concrete.

In the interest of cost saving, however, some cement cases are made of heavy galvanized sheet steel which is bent and welded at the corners. Such cases do not bond well to the concrete and therefore it is advisable to provide sufiicient depth of floor beneath the case to carry the weight of the door.

In general, the present invention considerably simplifies the above procedure and reduces the cost thereof.

Referring to the drawings, a concrete floor and a doorway are indicated respectively by the numerals 10 and 12. A door 14 is shown attached to a spindle 16 which projects upwardly from the housing 18 of a door control device. The threshold strip resting upon the floor in a position beneath the door (when the door is closed) is illustrated as being formed in two pieces. It consists of a rather short member 20 which extends out from the hinged edge of the door, butted in end to end relation to a longer member 22 that fills out the remaining portion of the door width. A single member threshold strip may be used if desired, but the two-piece arrangement shown is more convenient as will appear.

Both pieces forming the threshold strip are cut from the same extrusion which may be of conventional conformation. In the specific instance illustrated, a standard seven inch wide threshold strip extrusion is used, this extrusion in section having a horizontal top central surface which The bottom surface has side edge portions which rest against the floor and a reentrantly-formed central region which provides floor clearance and reduces the amount of metal in the extrusion, and hence, its cost. To improve the appearance and to prevent slipping, the upper surface of the strip is fluted longitudinally.

The housing 18 of the door control device is considerably narrower than the threshold strip; for instance, five inches or less for a seven inch threshold. This housing 18 is secured directly, as by screws 24, to the bottom surface of the short threshold member 20 with the upstanding spindle 16 projecting through a clearance opening in the strip. The spindle is near one end of the strip so that it is properly located when the strip is positioned with the end adjacent the spindle against the door frame at the door hinged edge. The housing 18 is centered with respect to the strip side edges.

When the floor is cast, clearance is provided for the housing 18 by setting in place anything which will form the proper recess 26. For this purpose the form may be a waterproofed cardboard box, a low cost thin wood frame, a thin sheet metal or plastics box, a block of foamed polyurethane plastics, or whatever else is handy or specially provided. The essential feature is simply to provide a clearance opening in the floor and nothing more.

This opening 26 should be somewhat wider than the housing 18, but not so wide as the threshold member 20 as is shown in the drawings. When the concrete has set, the form may be broken out or otherwise removed, or

if it is relatively thin (made of sheet metal, for instance), it may be allowed to remain in place.

At any time thereafter, the short threshold piece 20, with the door control device secured directly thereto, is positioned in the door way with the door control device housing 18 extending into the recess 26. The threshold piece 20 is then shifted about slightly so as to attain proper alignment. This is possible because of the clearance around the housing 18 of one quarter inch or so on each side. More clearance can of course be provided for if desired.

When alignment is satisfactory, holes are drilled for attaching the threshold member 20 directly to the concrete floor by means of conventional expansion bolts. The long threshold piece 22 is similarly fitted into place, appropriate holes are drilled, and both threshold members are secured by their expansion bolts or equivalent fastenings directly to the floor. Optionally, of course, a template can be used for spotting the holes to be drilled in the concerete. Since the clearance recess in the floor has considerably less width than the threshold strip, the strip will completely cover the floor opening even if the door control housing is not centered therein.

It is more convenient to have the threshold strip in two pieces, since this permits the short piece to be supplied already attached to the door control mechanism as an integral element thereof. It would be somewhat unwieldy if the full length strip were so attached. Furthermore, it permits the door control and short threshold piece to be standardized as to length, and the installation to be completed by using portions of the extrusion of various length, determined according to the width of the doorway. In the event that the door control device must subsequently be removed for servicing, it is also more convenient to remove the short threshold section rather than the entire threshold, as will be apparent.

With the arrangement of this invention, no cement case is necessary, since the Weight of the door and door control are transferred directly to the floor surface by the threshold strip. This represents a considerable saving both in parts cost (a simple form to create the clearance space is much less expensive than a cement case) and in the installation (the form is easier to install and the threshold and closer mechanism are located and aligned in one operation). Additionally, the door closer and door are supported from the upper floor surface by the full floor thickness without reliance upon the concrete bond to the cement case or upon the thickness of the floor beneath the cement case.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be apparent that variations in the structure shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that, therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined from the scope of the following claim.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A swinging door supporting and controlling structure comprising a door checking mechanism of the type having a housing and a vertical upstanding spindle for supporting and controlling the movement ofa door; a generally rectangular threshold strip having a width substantially greater than the width of said housing, said threshold strip having an opening therethrough near one end to permit the passage of said spindle; means securing said housing rigidly to the lower face of said threshold strip with said spindle projecting upwardly through said opening and with the edges and ends of said threshold strip projecting outwardly substantially beyond said housing in all directions horizontally so that said checking mechanism and said threshold strip constitute a unitary structure; the floor beneath the door supported by said spindle being formed to provide a clearance recess larger in width, length, and depth than said housing but substantially smaller in length and width than said threshold strip, means for anchoring the lower surface of said threshold strip directly against the top surface of the floor within the door opening with said housing extending into said recess without touching the fioor substance and with the portions of said threshold strip spaced outwardly of said housing and resting against the floor surface outwardly of said recess transferring the weight of the door checking mechanism and of the door supported thereby directly from the checking mechanism to the floor by way of said threshold strip to prevent floor engagement by any portion of said checking mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Garrison Oct. 6, 1931 OTHER REFERENCES 

